Fort Worth daily gazette. (Fort Worth, Tex.) 1882-1891, 1887-06-19

/ ADD0t
the structure of the vault or the routine
/ of business? Has the vault itself ever
been tempered with2''
( The latter question elected an import
ant and unexpected fact. 1t appeared
/ that some six months previous the cash
/ ieT, on attempting to open the safe in the
morning, found that the combination
would not work. AS he was certain he had
the numbers right, it was plain that
something was wrong with the lock itself.
a locksmith was sent for but he could do
nothing with it, and at length an expert
was summoned, who proceeded systcmat-.
ically and at last got the door open. In
the course of these operations he made
curious discovery, 10 which, however,
I little weight was attached at the time.
! Underneath the combination plate he
found small hole, drilled in suca 8 way
as to come in contact with the tumblerS
| Of the lock. The mouth of the hole had
! been filed with putty of the same color
as the surface Of the door, so that 1t was
only noticeable when the interior of the
! lock was laid bare.
/ Such e revelation might well have
aroused the suspicious of bank mana
ger, and II did lead to some speculation,
which, however, resulted in nothing.
The expert, whose time WAS too much
occupied to allow Of his spending any of
1 il on surmises, probably thought that the
bank wgs aware Of the existence of tae
/ hole, and that it was made in some former
attempt to correct disorder in the
mechanism. The bank, on the other hand,
! failed 10 realize the real gravity of the
revelation, owing to its having been So
/ iudifferently referred to by the expert. ut
! was afterwards remembered that pOPely
gentleman, about forty years of dye.
wearing an amethyst ring on his finger,
! had happened TO enter the bank at the
! time the expert was at work to get change
( for a Sl00 bill, aud that he remained, an
/ interested spectator OF the proeee diugs,
for couple Of hours. 81
/ 1t is st least reasonable con- 9etu re, "
observed the detective, "that the none
. you have lost found its way out through
! the hole drilled under the combination
/ plate, small though it was. That h0ks
drilled by burglars; snd in order to maEe
/ it, it seems certain that there must have
1 been some accompliCe inside 1t is true
that they carried off nothing; but that is
neither here nor there. They may have
been disturbed a. their work, or they may.
have only wished TO look over the gSTtp q
before going at it in earnest. SAT all;
events, it supports the theory that this,
robbery has been planned for some TING.
past. And if that be so, il renders the task
Of unravelIing the affair much more diff-
cult. Had everyone who had anything to
do with the doors of the bank or of the
vault been Swallowed we might by this
time have been in a position to act"
eve can, however, begin to shadow
them now" remarked 3 director.
"TneTe Is u great difference in the stu
alton now" was the reply. "Before, : e
money was here and the thieves were
not far of; now, the money is gone and
the thieves ere naturally gone with it, and
some guilty employee, whoever he may
be, Will be on his good behavior for 8
long while 10 come. And even could we
tx upon CIV persons Of whose guilt we
were morally certain, it would by no
means follow that we could establish
their guilt to TIE satisfaction eff jury"
Glow is that?" inquired the director.
Because, next O their plans fer &C
c0mplishing the wrong itself, bank bur-
2l8rs bestow their chief pains upon
schemes for escaping convection and ar
rest. That is as much part of their
regular business as wrecking safe. For
one witness that we could bring forward
10 identify man there will be half g
dozen to prove an alibi. However, we
will do our best y
1--WE place entire reliance IN your en-
eIgy and segacity," was the reply. "Mueh
81 the stolen property must have been IN
the form Of registered securities, ana
those, | presume, can be traced y
"No doubt, il 81 attempt is made to
negotiate them. But that is at least
doubtful. These burglars are prohab4y
old hands and know what they are asout.
The usual course in such matteggqis for
the thieves TO open negotiations with q
view 10 effeCting a compromise. They
VIII offer to return the securities on coE~
dit!on of receiving g certain percentage of
their face value. And ! may as well ask
you, right here, whether you would be
disposed to entertain any such proposal?"
TIE directors consulted together & few
moments.
1--WE are unanimously against shy form
Of compromise" said the director who
mad previously spoken, turning 10 the
defective "Our wish is that the thieves
should be vigorously pursued and, if
possible brought TO Justice. Meanwhile,
we are very much pleased ct the conclu-
sion you have arrived at"
The detective bowed an ackHOwle6 G.
ment. Il shall take nv measures vt
once" ne said, rising. meanwhile |
should &dvise your obtaininga correct
schedule of your losses, printing them in
the form Of circular and sending copies
- every banking institution and police
station in the country. BY the way, have
YOU sn approximate idea what your losses
GreE"
THE clerks have been at work examin-
iu@ the books" was the answer. They
should nave nearly finished by this time.
The amount stolen must be considerable
not far short Of g million, l should
say"
"At this moment there was q knock at
the door and the head clerk entered. He
had sheet of paper in his hand and his
face was pale and grave.
"What is it, Osborne?" the director
demanded.
"a summary of the amount stolen, "
replied the clerk, in low voice.
"Well, what is II? As much as q
million?"
The mans lips tTembled and his voice
fsltered as ne read these words from his
, paper: "Amount stolen in securities and
bonds, 50, 100000; in cash, $40. 900.
Total, So, $40, 600.
The directors looked st one another in
dismsy. This meant suspension.
TO be continued merit lreet.I
Grecnvillo.
:, Special 10 the Gazette
GRRENv1LLE, TEX, June lS-The
, engine and press for the cotton compress